A difference with the Russian girls the technical content. With the Triple lutz-triple toes or loops combos!

True. To be honest, though, it's easier for girls to do 3-3s when they are tiny and prepubescant because they just rotate really quickly, and as for guys and 3a, quads, etc. it actually helps if you are bigger and more mature because your center of gravity is higher and you have the muscle strength to jump high enough to land those jumps. So the situation is a bit different though I understand the point you make.

Impressive skates from Samohin. Is this the first time Israel has gotten an international medal?

No, but AFAIK it is the first medal at an ISU event for a singles skater representing Israel since Michael Shmerkin in the mid 1990s. Israeli ice dancers have medalled in ISU events in the past decade (C/S and the Zaretskis) and several Israeli skaters have medalled at senior Bs. I don't know how much of a link with Israel Samohin has (ISU bio does say he was born in Tel-Aviv) but it's nice for him to have the opportunity to compete - this looks to have been his first international event.

Re Chen, I think he is a huge talent and a joy to watch, but backloaded programs are no better IMO than front-loaded ones. Programs should be balanced. Maybe the ISU needs to figure out a better way to encourage element distribution rather than the stacking of second half jump elements.

I thought the backloading was interesting from a strategic standpoint. Also impressive he could pull it off at altitude (which I believe Mexico City is at). But from a balanced program standpoint, I definitely lost my awareness that this was a competitive program that was being structured like an "exercise" - partly because of the back end loading. Like watching a series of vaults in gymnastics.

I thought the backloading was interesting from a strategic standpoint. Also impressive he could pull it off at altitude (which I believe Mexico City is at). But from a balanced program standpoint, I definitely lost my awareness that this was a competitive program that was being structured like an "exercise" - partly because of the back end loading. Like watching a series of vaults in gymnastics.

It's far more interesting to look at on a protocol sheet than to watch!!

Even if he does train at altitude what was there to challenge him in the first two minutes?